Envoy’s bid to sue embassy staff flops

accused her of stripping naked in their presence last year, are null and void since the officials are protected by diplomatic immunity.
This comes after the ambassador successfully sued an Australian paper over the same story.
The paper paid her A$65 000 after they agreed to an out-of-court settlement.
She then reportedly wanted the embassy staff to be tried in Australian courts for allegedly tarnishing her image.
However, Foreign Affairs Secretary Ambassador Joey Bimha yesterday said although his officers were yet to formally update him on the latest developments, the officials could not be tried in foreign courts.
“I have not received any report regarding that matter, but these officers cannot be sued in Australia because they are protected by diplomatic immunity,” he said.
According to sources in Canberra, Ambassador Zwambila is suing the officials for stories published in the media in Harare and Australia.
It was reported last year that Ambassador Zwambila stripped naked after accusing embassy staff of leaking information to The Herald about an anti-Government website that she was running.
The sources added that this was designed to block the free flow of information to Harare.
It is also understood that Ambassador Zwambila is suing other Zimbabwean citizens based in Australia over the same issue.
Herald columnist Reason Wafawarova is among those being sued.
“We are very amused by the behaviour of the ambassador. She is now spending most of her time in courts where she is suing her fellow Zimbabweans for stories published in the media in Harare.
“What we know is that if she has any beef with her colleagues at the embassy, she should engage the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is the responsible authority to deal with diplomatic matters.
“What is also amusing is that why is she suing them in a foreign court yet we have courts in Zimbabwe. As the chief diplomat there, we expect her to protect the interests of Zimbabweans but she is actually persecuting them,” said the source.
The Herald has it on good authority that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not advised of the funds which Ambassador Zwambila got in the out-of-court settlement and it is the same money she is now using to sue the embassy staff and other Zimbabweans in Australia.
Ambassador Zwambila was recalled to Harare last year to give a comprehensive explanation on the allegations that were being levelled against her.
She was reprimanded and sent back to Australia where she is now battling to spruce up her image.
Sources said Ambassador Zwambila was now telling Australian newspapers that she was being persecuted because she bust a diamond smuggling racket, where it was alleged that the three embassy officials would receive a diplomatic bag full of diamonds.
It was further alleged that the bag would then further be smuggled to India and China where these diamonds would be sold.
That story appeared in the Australian newspaper called The Age.
However, the story did not explain why it would be necessary to use the Australian diplomatic bag for such a cause when Zimbabwe has embassies in both India and China.

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